


(not) high school sweethearts

by xogray



Series: percabeth oneshots [17]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Minor Grover Underwood/Juniper, Minor Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Minor Jason Grace/Piper McLean, School Reunion, almost enemies to friends to lovers but not rly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xogray/pseuds/xogray
Summary: “percy jackson?”he turned and came face to face with a pair of gray eyes he had been so familiar with ten years ago.“annabeth chase.”percy hadn’t exactly been friends with annabeth in high school, but in a way they had still been close. all of his memories of annabeth include them trying to one-up each other. they had some unspoken competition between them to see who could have higher grades, more extracurriculars, and just generally be better.- or the one in which a high school reunion brings them together in more ways than they expected, not that they're complaining
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: percabeth oneshots [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839274
Comments: 3
Kudos: 121





	(not) high school sweethearts

despite how nervous he actually was, percy did a good job of hiding it. he adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt, rolling them up to above his elbows. he opened the door to his old high school. for a moment, he had worried he would’ve forgotten the way to the gymnasium, but there were signs up on the walls to direct everyone returning for the ten year reunion.

already, percy had only seen a handful of people but he was surprised that he recognized most of them. especially considering they were people he hadn’t been close to, just peers he would pass in the hallways or sit next to in classes. he greeted a few people whose names he remembered as he made his way to the gym. already, his nerves were settling. he knew these people, he had no reason to be anxious.

percy entered the gymnasium, walking in slowly and looking around the room. quickly, he spotted grover with his girlfriend, juniper. grover had been the only person he stayed in close contact with past high school and college. he made his way over to join them, giving grover a fist bump and juniper a quick hug.

“hey, man,” percy said, looking at grover. “how are you guys?”

while they had stayed friends, both him and grover were busy with their jobs so they often didn’t have time to get together and hang out.

“we’re good!” grover beamed at him. “actually, i’ve been meaning to tell you…” he trailed off, looking at juniper. she immediately smiled widely and held up her left hand, showcasing the ring on her finger.

“oh my god, no way!” percy exclaimed. “congratulations! it’s about time!” he pulled them both into hugs. juniper then cuddled up to grover’s side, looking absolutely over the moon.

“thank you, percy,” juniper said. they idly chatted about the proposal and percy could see the exhilaration in both of their expressions. they had been together since their freshman year of college and it’s surprising they were only just now engaged. percy had expected that to have happened years ago. nonetheless, he was ecstatic for his best friend.

“oh, have you see jason yet?” grover asked. “we saw him a bit ago and caught up with him. dude, he has a kid now.”

“shut up.” percy remembered jason as the biggest troublemaker possible. he was every teacher’s worst nightmare. and the idea of him being responsible for a small human was… concerning. “i’ll catch up with you guys later, i need to find him and see that for myself. and congrats again!”

after they thanked him, percy turned and left them, walking towards the table of drinks as he searched the room. jason had also been one of his closest friends, so percy was excited to seek him out and reconnect. his face broke out into a smile when he saw the familiar head of blond hair. he did, in fact, have a child in his arms. percy made his way through the growing crowd.

“jason!” percy said, making him turn. jason’s face lit up. he tried his best to hug percy with a child in arms. “grover told me you had a kid and i almost didn’t believe him.”

jason laughed. his eyes shone as he looked at the little girl resting on his hip. she must’ve been about two. her head was on her father’s shoulder, looking shyly at percy. 

“god, it’s so good to see you percy. this is eve,” he said, adjusting her in his arms. “my wife is somewhere around here too, she’ll be super happy to meet the guy who kept me from getting expelled.”

they both laughed and percy shook his head. “this is crazy, dude. you’re married and you have a daughter. who would’ve thought you could be responsible?”

“not me,” jason chuckled. “oh, there’s my wife! pipes!”

a girl with long brown hair and eyes that seemed to change colors came up to them, already smiling.

“percy, this is my wife, piper. piper, this is percy.”

percy went to shake her hand but piper hit it away lightly. “oh please, any friend of jason’s is a friend of mine. give me hug.”

percy laughed and while he wasn’t too much of a hugger, he felt compelled to give the small girl a quick hug. “it’s nice to meet you,” percy told her when they pulled away from the hug.

“you too!” she said. “i’ve heard many stories about you and jason. i’m convinced you’re the reason he graduated.”

they all laughed. jason nodded. “yeah, i did a lot of dumb stuff but percy kept me from doing some _really_ dumb stuff.”

eve whined in his arms and squirmed a bit. piper frowned. “let me take her,” she said. jason let piper pull her from his arms and she placed eve on her hip and looked at her, bouncing her a bit. “let’s go get some snacks, okay bub?” she said, making eve nod and cuddle up to piper. she looked back at percy and her husband. “i’ll see you guys in a bit. it was great to meet you percy!”

“you too,” he replied. piper turned and walked off, babbling nonsense to her daughter to lift her mood. percy looked back at jason who was watching his wife walk away with a lovesick expression. “they’re both great, jace. i’m really happy for you.”

jason beamed at him. “thanks, percy. what about you? what have you been up to?”

percy chuckled. “definitely no wife or kids. i, uh, run my own marine life rescue and conserve organization.”

jason raised his eyebrows. “dude, that’s so cool! i remember you excelling at marine biology, so i’m not surprised.”

“thanks, yeah it’s been a dream honestly,” percy said, pride seeping into his voice. he was never a cocky person, but he could admit his work was something he was very proud of. they talked a bit more before they got interrupted.

“jason? percy?” a girl’s voice called.

they both turned to find three people coming up to them. percy instantly recognized them and broke out into a smile. 

“hazel! frank! leo! oh my god, hi,” percy exclaimed, quickly hugging each of them. aside from grover missing, this was their entire old friend group. “this is, like, so crazy seeing everyone after so long.”

they all talked excitedly for a bit, catching up. percy learned that leo had become an engineer, hazel was a geologist, jason was the ceo of his dad’s company, and frank was a teacher. as hazel was talking about her recent trip to washington dc, percy noticed her and frank holding hands. he waited until she was done talking to speak up.

“hold up,” he said, making the group look at him. he gestured between frank and hazel and then at their hands. “you two are together?”

hazel’s dark skin made it hard to tell if she was blushing. frank’s cheeks, however, turned bright pink. but they both smiled.

“yeah,” hazel said, “we obviously stayed close after college and a few years ago, we finally stopped skirting around each other and started dating.” she looked up at him happily. 

“that’s amazing,” jason said, “and a long time coming, frank had the biggest crush on you, like, all of high school.” 

“shut up,” frank snapped, but he was smiling. “she already knows anyway.” they all laughed and hazel stepped a bit closer to him.

“it’s okay, i had one on him too,” she stated, making him smile more. leo looked at percy and jason.

“please tell me i’m not the only single one here.”

jason just laughed and held up his left hand. “married.”

“what?” hazel exclaimed, suddenly pressing him for details.

“he has a kid, too,” percy chimed in, which made leo and frank surprised too. the three of them demanded an explanation and jason happily told them about piper and eve.

“she’s around here somewhere,” he said when hazel told him she wanted to meet piper.

“actually,” percy said, “i’m gonna walk around for a bit to find some food and i know she was headed to get snacks so if i see her, i’ll tell her you were looking for her. i’ll catch up with you guys later?”

they all nodded, saying a few goodbyes. percy turned and stalked off towards the food. he had been so nervous earlier that he hadn’t eaten and that was really taking a toll on him now. he found the buffet table of snacks and treats. there was nothing too substantial though, meaning he’d definitely be getting dinner on his way home. as he picked up a few cookies, he spotted piper. she smiled when she saw him, eve still on her hip.

“hey!” she said brightly when he walked over.

“hey,” he replied, giving a small wave to eve who quickly turned her head away shyly. he chuckled. “jason was looking for you. almost the rest of our old friend group is with him and they freaked out when they found out he was married and had a child.”

piper laughed. “is it really that unbelievable?”

“absolutely,” percy replied. “that boy was a mess. it’s a little crazy to think he’s settled down now and is actually, you know, responsible.”

piper laughed again and looked at eve. “let’s go find daddy,” piper said in a bubbly voice. for the first time that night, percy saw eve smile. piper looked back up at him. “thanks for letting me know. i’m sure i’ll see you again before the night ends but if i don’t, it’s been really great meeting you percy! i hope you and jason will stay in touch or something!”

“yeah, for sure! it’s been great meeting you too!” percy replied and she gave him one last smile before walking off in jason’s direction. percy took another bite of a cookie, ready to keep searching for people when a voice stopped him.

“percy jackson?”

he turned and came face to face with a pair of gray eyes he had been so familiar with ten years ago.

“annabeth chase.”

percy hadn’t exactly been friends with annabeth in high school, but in a way they had still been close. all of his memories of annabeth include them trying to one-up each other and be the best in school. they had some unspoken competition between them to see who could have higher grades, more extracurriculars, and just generally be better than the other. 

percy had been the highest student in his class until annabeth moved to new york sophomore year and almost immediately took his place. ever since then, they would consistently fight for number one. while it was an intense three year long competition, it was never malicious. when annabeth had won valedictorian, percy had been genuinely happy for her. she had even indirectly mentioned him in her valedictorian speech as her “motivation to be the best.” at least, percy believed she meant him. she had looked at him when she said it, chuckling softly after.

and while they hadn’t been friends, percy didn’t feel weird when she went in for a hug. 

“wow. it’s kind of crazy seeing you after ten years,” she said, smiling.

“you too, oh my god.” he returned her smile. “how have you been?”

in retrospect, percy was proud of himself for being able to concentrate on her response. annabeth had always been pretty in high school. but now, she was downright stunning, to the point where it was almost distracting. her blond hair fell in soft curls down her back. she wore just enough makeup to accentuate her features, especially her stormy eyes. her tight, black dress fit her slim body well ( _really_ well, in percy’s opinion).

“i’ve been great!” she said, happily. “i just celebrated the four year anniversary of my architecture company opening! what about you?”

“oh, congrats, that’s super cool! i remember you being a complete nerd for architecture.” she rolled her eyes but smiled at his words. “and i’ve been good too.”

“what are you up to nowadays?” she asked, picking up a few pretzels from a bowl on the table next to them. 

“i own a marine life rescue organization. it’s been going really well, i’m really proud of it.”

she raised her eyebrows. “you should be, that’s sick.”

percy chuckled. “sick? are you still in high school?”

annabeth laughed. somehow, percy felt like he remembered that sound so distinctly. “technically, today i’m in my high school, so yes.”

“smartass. i see nothing’s changed.”

she punched his shoulder lightly, smiling. percy also distinctly remembered that feeling. annabeth looked around the room briefly before refocusing her eyes on him. “walk with me?” she asked.

“lead the way,” he replied. they walked side by side around the room, chatting and laughing. it was interesting. annabeth had seemingly hated him all throughout high school, yet here they were acting like they had been best friends for those three years. 

“jason grace?” she exclaimed in disbelief. “has a kid? and a wife? are you sure we’re talking about the same jason?”

“that was literally my reaction when grover told me.”

her eyes lit up and she smiled. “oh, grover! i miss him, how is he?” percy remembered her and grover actually being decent friends towards the end of their junior year. which also meant annabeth had been around him and percy a lot more during senior year. 

“he’s great! he’s here, somewhere. we stayed friends all this time, i’m surprised he’s not tired of me.”

“yeah, really. i know i would be,” she said, laughing when he protested.

“hey!”

as if on queue, they ran into grover.

“grover!” annabeth exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug.

“annabeth! hey, it’s so good to see you!” he replied when they pulled away. he took juniper’s hand. “this is my fiancee, juniper.”

“hi,” annabeth said, shaking her hand. “it’s so good to meet you!”

“you too! i’ve heard so much about you!”

the four of them talked for a bit and percy was surprised by how natural everything felt. it was like they had never lost connection with annabeth. after a while of reminiscing, grover checked his watch and then slid his arm around juniper’s waist.

“i hate to leave so early, but we have to get going,” he told them. annabeth hugged him first while percy hugged juniper, then they switched. 

“it’s been amazing getting to catch up, i hope we can stay in touch?” annabeth said hopefully. grover nodded enthusiastically.

“of course!”

“expect an invitation to the wedding,” juniper told her, smiling. annabeth’s eyes lit up and she surged forward, hugging them both again.

“speaking of,” grover said when annabeth pulled away. he looked at percy. “i need to ask you something.” he nodded for percy to step away from the girls and percy heard annabeth begin to ask juniper questions about the wedding as he walked with grover.

“what’s up?” percy asked.

grover smiled. “for the wedding, i was wondering… if you would be my best man?”

percy’s jaw nearly dropped. “dude, are you serious?” grover nodded and percy pulled him into a hug. “duh, oh my god. like, i’d be honored.”

grover beamed at him when they pulled away. “i figured it was a given,” he said. “i couldn’t really imagine anyone else as my best man, so.”

“thanks for asking, man. and i mean, i’m not getting married any time soon but just know, when i do, i’ll expect you to return the favor.”

“duh,” grover said, “as if you have any other friends to take my place.”

they both laughed as they walked back over to where annabeth and juniper were still talking excitedly. percy caught the end of a conversation about wedding colors.

“i’m guessing it was a yes?” juniper asked, looking at percy with sparkling eyes. 

“duh,” percy smiled and juniper cheered, hugging him. percy caught annabeth’s eye as she smiled at him.

“it was great to catch up guys, but we really should go,” grover said reluctantly. “we’ll keep in touch, i promise.” with one last wave, grover and juniper left. annabeth looked at percy.

“so, you’re the best man?” she asked, smiling. they began walking in a random direction.

“yeah.” he ran a hand through his hair. “is it weird that i didn’t see that coming? like, if i were getting married, he’d be the obvious first choice for my best man. but he’s getting married and i never even thought about him asking me or not.”

annabeth chuckled. “i mean when your best friend says he’s getting married, it makes sense for your immediate reaction not to be wondering if you’ll be the best man.”

“yeah, that makes sense.” they silent for a beat.

“so, you’re not married?” annabeth asked him. he let out a soft laugh.

“no,” he told her. “almost was. but we broke off the engagement about two years ago.”

annabeth frowned. “oh, i’m sorry to bring it up.”

“no, no, it’s okay,” percy assured her. “really, it was for the best.” without realizing, he had looked down at her left hand. “either you aren’t married either, or you really hate your husband so you don’t wear your ring.”

annabeth barked out a laugh. “no husband,” she said, “i’ve been too wrapped up in work for that. things are evening out for me a bit now though, so maybe i’ll find someone eventually.”

subconsciously, they had wandered out of the gymnasium. they stood in the hallway, right outside the doors. percy smiled.

“we should see if we can find our old lockers.”

annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise. “you’d know where yours is? i wouldn’t even know where to start.” percy laughed and motioned for her to follow him. he found the staircase near the gym he would run up and down every day for four years.

“i remember mine being near this staircase,” he told her. they made sure no one was paying attention to them before quickly running up the stairs. annabeth’s heels clicked loudly against the ground. “dude, shh,” percy said, smiling.

annabeth laughed. when they got to the top of the stairs, she reached down and undid the straps of the heels and took them off, holding them in her hand as they walked. “thank god, those were so uncomfortable.”

percy chuckled. lockers ran down both sides of the hallway. he slowed as they approached the second classroom door on the wall. “it was near this door.”

“how the hell do you remember that? i literally couldn’t tell you if mine was on this floor or not.”

percy laughed and shrugged. “we had the same locker all four years, which was weird. most schools give you a new one each year, i think. but i remember it being near this door. no clue which one it is.”

annabeth looked at the classroom door. “oh my god,” she said. “this is still mr. d’s room. i’m surprised he’s still alive, let alone still teaching.”

percy let out a laugh. “he was awful. but i swear, that guy is immortal. like he was so old… and he’s still here.”

annabeth giggled quietly. they roamed the halls, pointing out old classrooms and talking about the teachers they liked and disliked. percy was still a little surprised at how normal this felt. he wondered if he and annabeth would’ve friends if they hadn’t been so competitive during high school. so he asked her.

“do you think we would’ve gotten along like this if we hadn’t been trying to one-up each other for three years straight?”

she tilted her head, considering this. “i don’t know. i mean, it kinda seemed like you hated me so maybe not.”

“i didn’t hate you. dude, i literally had the biggest crush on you.” as soon as he said it, a little part of him regretted it. but at the same time, he didn’t think he had been that subtle in high school. they had been competitive, sure, but it wasn’t a secret he had admired how intelligent she had been. plus, how pretty she was. he hadn’t been so open about that part, but he still thought it every time he saw her.

annabeth snorted. “sure,” she said sarcastically. he paused for a millisecond.

“you didn’t know?”

she stopped walking for a second and blinked at him. “what?”

he fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt. “oh. i thought you knew. i was never really subtle with how much i admired how smart you were.” 

she blinked again before she continued walking. “huh,” she hummed. “i didn’t know that.”

he was quiet for a second. “well. i wouldn’t have said it if i had known you didn’t know.” he chuckled awkwardly.

“i mean, i wish i had known then.”

his eyes snapped up to hers. “what?”

annabeth rolled her eyes, smiling now. “i definitely liked you too, genius. you were smart too, which was attractive. but the whole competition thing, i don’t know. it always made me like you more. everyone i knew was always annoyed or intimidated by me and how smart i was, i guess. you weren’t though. which was a nice change of pace.”

percy blinked a few times. he suddenly felt like he had been transported back ten years. walking through the halls of his school, thinking about how he liked annabeth chase.

“sorry, that was a lot, wasn’t it?” she said. he realized he had been silent for too long.

“no,” he replied, looking at her. “i was just thinking that for as smart as we were then, we were also kind of dumb.”

she laughed at that. any tension that had settled from their confessions was broken now. “you’re right,” she said, “we were a little dumb.”

percy stopped in front of a classroom. “this is still mr. brunner’s room.”

annabeth smiled, standing next to him. “we met in his class, right?”

“yeah. he told me that i would have some competition as he handed us our papers. you had scored higher than me on our exam.”

annabeth chuckled. “so if anything, we can blame him for our rivalry,” she said. percy laughed.

“i guess so.” he looked at her and they locked eyes. once again, percy was taken aback by just how pretty she was. her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright, even in the dim hall. 

“what?” she asked. he hadn’t realized it, but a soft smile had grown on his face. he felt his cheeks heat up a bit as he shrugged.

“nothing,” he said. “you just look the same as you did ten years ago. like, i feel like i’ve been transported to the past.” 

“oh?” annabeth raised an eyebrow. “and how did i look ten years ago?”

“pretty.”

percy didn’t miss the way her eyes lit up. she smiled, looking back at the classroom door in front of them. she then turned and tugged his wrist. “come on, loser.”

her hand slipped into his and percy felt a little ridiculous from the way his heart did a flip. but in his opinion, it was allowed. he was holding hands with his high school crush and tonight, he’d had a quick realization that his crush didn’t stay in high school. they found a staircase and she was about to start down it when he stopped her, pulling on her hand lightly. her head whirled around, looking at him.

“do you wanna get dinner with me?” he asked before he lost the courage. “like, tonight maybe? i didn’t eat before i came here so i was going to get dinner on my way home and i was wondering if you wanted to join me?” he forced himself to stop rambling when she stepped closer. there was maybe an inch between their chests. she tilted her head.

“percy jackson, are you asking me out?” she asked, teasing. he wanted to roll his eyes but annabeth was close enough that he could tell she smelled like lemon and he found it intoxicating.

“maybe,” he smiled. “i can take it back though, if you’d prefer.”

she didn’t respond. instead, she leaned forward and kissed him softly. his hand that wasn’t intertwined with hers lifted to rest on her waist lightly. she placed hers on his arm. they stood there for what couldn’t have been more than ten seconds, but nonetheless, percy felt dizzy when they pulled away.

“we should’ve done that ten years ago,” annabeth said quietly, making them both chuckle. “and yeah, dinner sounds great.”

-

epilogue?

about six months later, annabeth was percy’s date to grover’s wedding. as percy stood up there, he found annabeth in the crowd and winked at her. he wouldn’t tell her this yet, but he could picture this being them someday. not anytime soon, but someday. after the ceremony, they were in the reception hall, dancing together to one of the slow songs the dj had decided to play. annabeth looked up at him and smiled.

“can i tell you something?” she asked him.

“tell me something,” he said with a grin.

she stood up on her toes. “i love you.”

at this point, percy didn’t feel ridiculous or surprised when annabeth did something that made his heart do jumping jacks.

they had both agreed to take things pretty slow when they began dating. annabeth had been through a bad relationship only a year before they got together, so percy wanted to make sure she knew things would be different than that. things would be better than that. he wanted her to be comfortable and trust him. this resulted in him wanting her to be the one to say the L word first. which she just had.

his face broke out into a big smile. his arms tightened around her waist and he kissed her passionately, making her laugh against his lips.

he pulled away just long enough to say, “i love you, too,” before kissing her again.


End file.
